The Princess Of All Saiyajins
by dirtyShoes
Summary: After her homeworld is destroyed, Princess Vegeta finds herself stranded on a strange world filled with shinobi.
1. Chapter 1

The Princess of All Saiyajins

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Dragonball, Z, GT, etcetera, yadda yadda. On with the show, er...story. Yeah.

Chapter One

The life of Saiyajin royalty was frought with peril. More so than the average Saiyajin, in fact. The attention that came with the status was often lethal. It was especially so when the entire kingdom was overshadowed by an interstellar tyrant who made a living by forcing various races to do his bidding across the galaxy. Having a reputation for breeding tremedous strength, the Saiyajins had had the worst time living under the thumb of Freeza. They were viewed as a constant threat to his position due to their habit of growing stronger after every battle and brutal war they waged in his name. For that very reason, Freeza had made a tradition of holding heirs to the Saiyajin throne hostage, at his leisure, and using them as collateral to aid in manipulating the proud monarchy of planet Vegeta. This had started many generations ago when the Kold empire had first taken the Saiyanjins under its wings and realized how much potential they had as a race.

King Vegeta, having already had the 'pleasure' of living as one of Freeza's hostages when he was but a mere child had no desire to see his own heir go through the same thing. Much to his chagrin, his queen had bore him a daughter instead of a son as her last act before dying. Having only that one child to rely upon as his heir was bad enough, but the fact that it was female made it infinitely worse. He knew first hand what the Kold tyrant's opinion was of proud Saiyajin women. His mother had been murdered before his own eyes by the bastard when he was younger. If his precious princess were to have any chance of survival around the disgusting lizard, drastic measures had to be taken.

It merely took the pulling of a few strings for his royal highness to secure the technology that would safely disguise his Princess as the Prince of all Saiyajins. With a highly advanced sub-dermal implant, and a bit of ki control, his daughter's illusion of 'Prince' Vegeta would be complete and the secret would be safe. Being the King of an entire space faring civilization was not without its perks.

The King had done his best to imprint the importance of maintaining the illusion at all times to the young Vegeta, but the real test had yet to be taken. It wasn't until they reached a suitable age and power level that the heirs were taken into Freeza's troupe for 'training'. When the day finally came, King Vegeta bid his six year old heir farewell and gave 'him' a firm reminder of what was at stake.

Prince Vegeta, who had grown to hate the constant reminders of his father to be careful, reeked of arrogance and overconfidence. That smug attitude, that had at first been genuine, quickly turned into a shield to keep his true emotions hidden from Freeza and his men in order to rob them of ammunition to use against him. Unfortunately, the emotional shield of a six year old Princess in disguise was hardly impenetrable. Freeza and his men quickly learned how to see right through Prince Vegeta and, over the course of four years, made a game out of torturing and humiliating him.

OOooOOooOO

Vegeta wiped the bloody dribble from the edge of his mouth before pushing himself back onto his feet and lunging forward to retaliate against the pink blob Dodoria with a ki enhanced punch. The fat alien easily caught Vegeta's smaller fist before twisting his arm in an attempt to illicit a reaction from the Prince. The proud Saiyajin 'boy' gritted his teeth and pushed harder despite knowing what the outcome would be. When his elbow finally snapped, he suppressed a wince and bit back a yelp that threatened to escape him. Dodoria noticed his feeble attempts to hide his agony and seemed satisfied for the time being, because he immediately let go of the broken arm.

For added effect, Dodoria followed up by swiftly kicking the royal twerp in the crotch and then laughing menacingly as he curled up in a ball on the floor. The pink henchman continued to laugh out loud as he walked away and disappeared around one of the corridors of the ship they resided on.

The young Saiyajin stayed on the cold floor of the spaceship corridor until the waves of pain subsided to tolerable levels. He grimaced at the deformed arm hanging uselessly at his side as he pulled himself to his feet and began limping toward the infirmary. The medical droid was used to tending to his injuries and, as such, always had a regen tank reserved for him. He winced in great pain as the droid assisted in the removal of his chest armor and accidentally jarred his arm. Before long, the young Prince was suspended in the healing green liquid and resting in a sedative induced sleep.

Hours seemed like only minutes for the exhausted Prince and he was greatly disappointed to be brought out of his somewhat relaxing dreamscape when Zarbon hit the kill switch to end the healing cycle. Vegeta fell to the floor on his hands and knees as the liquid drained away into the bowels of the ship. He quickly stood up and fiercely eyeballed the calm visage of the pale green-haired alien who looked back at him with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Get dressed," Zarbon ordered. "We have a mission for you."

Vegeta silently complied and was fully decked out in his royal blues with armor in minutes flat. He was then led, by Zarbon, to the pod hangar at the lowest deck of Freeza's ship where two pods had already been prepped for launch by the flight crew. He entered his pod without hesitation and closed the hatch to await further instructions. They quickly embarked on the mysterious mission to which he hadn't received any details of whatsoever. He thought it odd that he should be kept in the dark about their objective when, normally, he was chastised for not memorizing every detail of the mission profile. His gut screamed at him that something really wrong was going to happen soon and that he likely would be powerless to do anything about it. He hated that feeling more than anything.

OOooOOooOO

On the surface of Vegetasei, King Vegeta angrily slammed a fist on the arm rest of his throne as his loyal messenger kneeled before him and relayed the news of the failure to rescue his heir from the grip of Freeza. The King cursed Freeza's name out loud before barking orders to summon the members of his elite inner circle. The coup d'etat he had been planning against Freeza couldn't go into motion until he had his daughter safely within his custody again. According to his messenger, Freeza had gotten wind of the plan to recover the Prince and assigned his right hand man to take the child to an undisclosed location. The King could only wonder what else the tyrant had gotten wind of. He didnt spend too much time contemplating on that though. Not when his current situation demanded that action be taken.

The King's deep frown lessened a few degrees when the elites he had summoned marched into the throne room and kneeled before him. "Rise," the King said.

One by one, the four Saiyajin elites returned to their feet to stand tall and proud before their King. Their leader, Nappa, was a whole two heads taller than his second in command, Garick. The other two were identical twins, Boki and Choy. All four wore the same white and gold colored armor with shoulder pads denoting rank. Nappa had two pads, as did Garick, while Boki and her twin sister Choy each had one over their right shoulders. Garick was of a solid medium build and had a long mohawk that fell to his mid back. Both sides of his head were also intricately adorned with tribal tattoos. The twins were of a slight build and neither were very well endowed in terms of feminine figure, but their deceptively compact forms were perfectly chiseled and had clearly seen countless battles. Unlike most identical twins, Boki and Choy were easily distinguishable due to Choy having a rather jagged scar across her forehead that cut into her hairline and parted her mane of spikey brown hair.

King Vegeta cleared his throat before commanding everyone other than his most elite team to vacate his royal chamber. As soon as the heavy doors were closed, he cut off most of the tension with a sigh and laced his hands together while his elbows rested on the armrests of his throne. "I should have sent you to retrieve the child from the very beginning. I was a fool to believe that sending another team would draw less attention. What I need from each of you now is nothing less than your very best. You are my key players in what is soon to come, but before we can implement our grand plan we must take away Freeza's trump card. Take your pods and track Zarbon down. Destroy him and return my daughter to me in one piece."

"With pleasure," Nappa replied.

"Not you," King Vegeta said, eyeballing Nappa. "I have a special mission in mind for you. The rest of your team should be more than enough to kill that filthy son of a bitch."

Nappa nodded in agreement before addressing his second in command. "Garick, do me a favor and make sure that sicko suffers before you kill him."

"Done deal, mate," Garick replied with a grin and a thumbs up. "The twins and I will give him hell."

"You can count on us!" the girls chirped enthusiastically with a dual salute.

"You three are dismissed," the King said with a wave of his hand.

Garick and the twins bowed to King Vegeta before taking leave of the throne room. As he closed the door behind him, Garick caught a glimpse of the King handing Nappa an encrypted data sphere. He silently wished his commander luck before catching up with Boki and Choy on their way to the palace's launch pad. Upon reaching the pad on the palace's roof, the three elites literally crashed into a frantic and beat up looking Bardock as he dropped out of the air in a hurry. The elite trio were quick to recover their footing while the low level struggled to pick himself up.

Garick watched in amusement as the twins held the pathetic man down and picked on him for violating their personal bubbles of space. It was even more funny when the man managed to knock them out of his way and return to his feet. Garick laughed at the expense of his comrades before getting a little more serious and intercepting Bardock's path to put him in his place and let him know not to screw around with his superiors. He put a hand up to halt Bardock's progress but it was just slapped aside as the man walked right past him. Now that kind of behavior just pissed Garick off.

"Hey, buddy, where do you get off insulting an elite like that?" Garick growled as he grabbed onto Bardock's left shoulder before he could walk away. "Answer me you third class trash!"

"Hands off..." Bardock replied in a dangerously low voice.

"What's that? I can't hear you. Are you so afraid that you've lost your voice?" Garick taunted.

Bardock reached his right hand around and clamped it onto Garick's wrist before yanking it off of his shoulder. "I said hands off you fucking prick!" Bardock yelled as he tightened his grip and threatened to break Garick's wrist. "You three shitheads have no idea who you're fucking with and what I need to do so get the fuck out of my way 'cause I don't have time to waste on you!"

Garick made a move to punch the insolent jerk but was quickly overpowered and sent crashing with his two comrades into a heap on the ground. He rubbed the sore spot where he had gotten punched in the face before climbing back to his feet. "A fucking third class hurt me? No way..."

Bardock dashed through the palace corridors, knocking aside everyone and everything that got in his way as he drew closer to finding the King. His bold determination allowed him to ignore his wounds and overwhelm the palace guards effortlessly until he finally reached the heavy doors of the throne room. He unceremoniously bashed the door open to find King Vegeta still in his meeting with his highest ranking elite, Nappa. Ignoring the looks of shock on the two other men's faces, Bardock marched directly up to the King and kneeled in the traditional fashion to show respect for his Majesty.

The King, for his part, was taken by surprise that a man who had just stormed in looking ready for a fight had instead kneeled and looked to be impatiently waiting to be officially acknowledged. He glanced back toward Nappa who looked about ready to stomp the little man flat and simply shook his head before summoning a ball of ki in his right hand and addressing Bardock. "If you wish to leave this room alive then I suggest you come up with an excuse good enough to warrant this reckless intrusion. Don't make your King wait. I'm very impatient."

Bardock carefully looked up without moving from his kneeled position. "Your highness, I just returned from planet Mete. My crew...all of them were ambushed and slaughtered by Dodoria and his men on Freeza's order. I barely managed to escape myself. Freeza plans to kill us all! He's afraid of us...afraid of our power! The Kanassan...he gave me his psychic powers before I killed him. He said I would see the destruction of my own race. We can't let it happen! We have to destroy Freeza first!"

"Perhaps to someone like you it's a shocker that the tyrant we've so loyally served would want us dead but I've already known that for years. He's just been looking for an excuse to get rid of us," King Vegeta said as he held the ball of ki steady in his hand. "I suppose, out of all the empty headed fools out there, that there had to be a few who would eventually pick up on the obvious. Well, then, what was your name again?"

"Bardock, Sir."

"Bardock, huh?" the King replied, testing the sound of the name on his tongue as if he recognized it. "Ah! Bardock! The same one who perfected the false moon technique?"

"Yes, Sir. That's me," Bardock replied with a nod.

"I see..." the King replied. "Nappa, it seems we've got a celebrity in our midst. What shall we do with him, I wonder?"

Nappa responded by cracking his knuckles.

"Now, now, let's not be children about this," King Vegeta said in an amused tone as he lowered his hand and let the ki dissipate. "I think we can use him."

OOooOOooOO

Two flaming white pods cut through the turbulent atmosphere of a small stormy planet on their descent to the surface. The loud crash of each pod's cratered landing was drowned out by the constant thundering in the background. The dust and smoke was dissolved quickly due to the heavy rain that fell in sheets for miles in every direction.

Vegeta's pod hatch hissed as it slowly opened and he stepped out onto the moist soil. He grimaced as he was pelted with the freezing cold water. His frown deepened the moment he was joined by Zarbon. The pale green haired alien pulled a data sphere from his utility belt and held it before Vegeta at eye level so he could see it. Assuming it had something to do with their mysterious mission, Vegeta gazed into it. His eyes widened in horror as a series of images played on repeat for him to see.

Zarbon knelt slightly so he could address the prince more closely. "That is what I am going to do to you until Freeza either gives me permission to kill you or we are ordered to return. I hope you enjoy the venue I've chosen," he added with a sadistic smirk plastered onto his face.

The proud prince reacted on instinct and kicked the sick bastard in the groin before launching himself into a frantic flight path through the violent skies. He heard the distant laughing of his would-be terrorizer echo behind him as he darted ever faster away from the scene of their landing. His sharp eyes strained to focus through the veil of windy rain in hope of finding some sort of cover on the terrain below him. He knew he was no match for Zarbon's speed or strength and the element of surprise had bought him only several seconds of a head start. If he didn't conceal himself as soon as possible, he was done for.

Luck was on his side, apparently, because he soon spotted a thickly forested area just ahead and immediately broke his previous speed limit to reach it. He landed with a skid and took off running at full speed until he came upon what looked like the entrance to a large burrow nestled at the base of one of the giant trees that populated the forest. He didn't waste more than a second considering the idea that whatever creature had dug that large of a hole in the ground might constitute a threat. Whatever it was surely paled in comparison to the creature that was currently pursuing him.

After a minute long descent into the darkness, Vegeta took a moment to catch his breath and process everything that had just happened. He had known all along that his life was worth little more than dirt to Freeza and that he was nothing more than a bargaining chip to be used against his father. Apparently, if what Zarbon had said was true, events back home were coming to a head of some sort and he had been fooled into following Zarbon all of this way so that he would be completely cut off from his people. The only reason he could think of as to why Freeza would have him removed from the reach of his father was that the tyrant probably felt his guard over him was threatened. Could it be that his father was finally trying to take him back?

Vegeta shuddered when his ears picked up the distant sound of Zarbon's voice mention something about the thrill of the hunt before breaking into malicious laughter. He silently cursed himself for forgetting that he could be tracked by Zarbon's scouter. He quickly pulled his own scouter away from his face and proceeded to readjust the settings on it so it would deflect signals from other scouters, thereby rendering his power level untraceable to anyone using such a device. Nappa may have been an annoying bodyguard but he did have a few tricks up his sleeve and Vegeta had seen him demonstrate it enough times to duplicate it on his own.

The young prince held his breath as he heard Zarbon's voice drawing near, accompanied by the sound of his footsteps squashing over wet leaves.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." Zarbon said in a sing song voice as he trudged along passed a giant tree. "Damned scouter," he grumbled as he stopped to fiddle with the malfunctioning gadget.

The green haired predator's attention was drawn away from his mobile device when a very obvious shifting of brush and wet leaves occurred directly behind him. He spun around and was greeted by the face of a gigantic snake with its tongue flickering in his direction. It hissed menacingy loud and poised to strike.

Vegeta couldn't miss the sounds coming from right outside of the entrance to his hiding place. He also began to notice a rustling noise coming from within the chamber he was using as cover. It wasn't hard for him to guess what was causing it but he decided to illuminate the area with a small ball of ki anyway. Sure enough, the chamber went further down and opened up into a humongous cave with what looked like hundreds of larger than average snakes and partially hatched eggs littering the floor. He took that as his cue to start ascending back toward the surface and did so while hoping the mother snake outside would serve as a suitable distraction for his escape from Zarbon.

Said alien man was currently cradling his mangled left arm while narrowly dodging the lightning quick strikes of the gargantuan acid spitting serpent. He had been unpleasantly surprised to discover that the creature's thick skin had an incredible resistance to his ki blasts. As if that weren't bad enough, the lingering acid was inducing a numbing effect across the left side of his body and slowing him down. If he made it out of this situation alive, this planet was definitely getting crossed off of his list of secluded places to take little boys.

A spikey mane of black hair appeared from behind a tree root as Vegeta exited the burrow and paused momentarily when he stopped to watch Zarbon take a dive to avoid a stream of acid shot from the mother snake's mouth. Vegeta supressed the urge to help the snake finish Zarbon off, knowing it would be unwise. Instead, he silently took to the air and ascended above the tree line before blasting off at full speed toward his space pod. He was nearly home free.

His smirk that had threatened to become a grin, was abruptly killed when he felt the push of a tremendously large ki explosion come from behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw the large body of the snake thrashing while suspended in the air. A monstrous roar accompanied the appearance of a bigger looking Zarbon as he shot above the tree line and used a brute force physical attack to rip the snake in half.

"Aw, fuck," Vegeta cursed before once again pushing himself even faster than he could normally bear. He wasn't out of the woods yet.

It only took him a few more seconds to spot the craters with the pods and a moment later he was skidding to a halt in front of his own. Thanks to his scouter's remote start function, the pod was already prepped for launch and hovering slightly off of the surface of the ground with its hatch left open to accept him. He hastily dove inside of it and pressed the launch button before waiting for the hatch to fully shut. He was pulled into his seat as the sudden acceleration subjected his small frame to several times normal gravity.

The view from the porthole on his hatch was blurred by the watery atmosphere but he could already see the clouds beginning to thin and the stars of space beyond them. He released a bit of the tension that had seized his muscles when he let out the breath that he realized he had been holding.

Zarbon hovered in the air while tracking the pods flight path with his eyes and charging a ball of ki in his right hand. A moment later, he hurled the ki into the sky and counted down the seconds until it reached the pod.

Vegeta's head was slammed against the hatch porthole when the pod was suddenly rocked by an explosion. Electrical sparks flared up all around him as smoke began to fill up the cabin. Blood dribbled down from his forehead and made seeing the controls even more difficult as he tried to find the emergency power bypass switch. When he thought he found it, he slammed a palm onto it and became instantly paralyzed as high voltage current found a new path through his body. He was stuck like that until he felt something small pop near the base of his neck and the electrical current was released. Pain flooded Vegeta's entire body as he felt it shift and warp out of it's previous state until it settled back into its nearly forgotten natural form. He knew instantly that the special implant his father had given him to stay male had just failed.

The, once again, Saiyajin princess struggled to collect herself and braced for a crash landing as she felt the pod take a nose dive towards the planet's surface.

Zarbon rocketed through the sky after the crippled pod and waited for it to impact before descending.

Princess Vegeta groaned as she sat limp in her seat overcome by dizziness, pain, and smoke inhalation. Her heavy eyelids lifted considerably when her hatch door was ripped open by an extra ugly version of Zarbon.

"What the fuck is this?" Zarbon said out loud when he saw Vegeta. He had expected to find a little boy with jet black flame shaped hair and a severe widow's peak. Instead, he found some girly looking kid he had never seen before. This kid had dark brown hair with long bangs that fell to one side, framing half of her face, while the rest of her head had long wind swept spikes that defied gravity in a way that reminded Zarbon of the Saiyajin prince. "Who the hell are you and where is that little shit, Vegeta?"

The princess was still slightly out of it due to the rough landing and her weak state. She opened her mouth and leaned forward just in time to heave the contents of her stomach onto Zarbon's feet.

"Do you have a death wish, kid?" Zarbon growled as he hauled Vegeta out of the pod by her neck. "Nobody disrespects me."

"Except Freeza," the little girl choked out with a smirk. "You're his bitch, aren't you?"

Zarbon grinded his teeth in anger and tightened his grip on the little girl's neck as he replied. "I don't know who the fuck you think you are, kid. But since you can't tell me where Vegeta is, I might as well kill you right now."

"I'm...right...here...bastard," she struggled to say as her windpipe was slowly cut off.

"What did you say?" Zarbon asked as he loosened his grip slightly.

"I'm Vegeta, you dipshit," she spat.

Zarbon scrutinized her for a moment before finally registering the resemblance between she and the former Saiyajin queen. "No fucking way..." he trailed off in disbelief. "In this case, Freeza might want to kill you personally. I guess I have no choice but to contact him and find out what to do with you."

"That won't be necessary!" Garick shouted as he appeared via speed flicker right behind Zarbon and landed a devastatingly precise kick to the side of Zarbon's head which caused him to drop Vegeta as he was sent tumbling away.

Vegeta was caught safely in Choy's arms and swiftly carried away from the wreckage of her pod while the two other adults engaged Zarbon in battle.

Boki took advantage of Zarbon's handicapped arm and attacked him from the left side while Garick occupied the right. The tag team tactics were paying off quite well as they forced Zarbon to backpedal while defending. With growing confidence, Boki used her superior speed to get back within close quarters and managed to successfully get a grip of his deformed arm.

Zarbon howled in pain as the Saiyajin woman cranked up the death grip on his injured appendage.

"Not so tough now, are we?" Boki whispered into Zarbon's ear as she got behind him and tighened her hold.

As the pain became too much for Zarbon to handle, he lost hold of his transformed state and reverted back to his smaller form. The last thing he saw before his vision went dark was the angry look on Garick's face as he delivered the final blow.

OOooOOooOO

"Who are you?" Vegeta asked Choy as they sailed through the rainy sky.

"I'm part of team Nappa. We were sent by your father. Don't worry, princess. You're safe now," Choy replied.

"But, I don't understand how you got near us without being detected," Vegeta said.

"You think you're the only one who knows how to fool other scouters? We landed on the other side of the planet and flew in under stealth. The king doesn't bestow the title of elite to just anyone, you know," Choy added.

"Hn. I guess not," Vegeta acknowledged. "I can fly under my own power, by the way."

"Not as fast as I can," Choy said before blasting into supersonic speed.


	2. Chapter 2

The Princess of All Saiyajins

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Dragonball, Z, GT, etcetera, yadda yadda. On with the show, er...story. Yeah.

Chapter Two

King Vegeta's royal cape billowed in the wind as he stood near the edge of his palace's highest balcony and overlooked the capital city. He had just received word from Garick that his daughter was safe and in his team's custody. The immense relief he would normally be feeling at such news was currently overshadowed by the harsh reality of what he was about to do. His kingdom, as it appeared now, would for better or worse never be the same again so he was taking this moment to burn the image into his memory.

The crystal clear sky and jagged peaks that lay in the horizon beyond the bustling capital was quite the magnificent sight to behold even for one as seasoned to space travel as his royal highness. There really weren't that many habitable planets left in their corner of the galaxy that hadn't been ravaged by war or had their natural resources sucked dry by Freeza's empire. After years upon years of witnessing, firsthand, the destruction of many beautiful and exotic climates, on countless worlds, he had finally had enough. He could also no longer tolerate the senseless slaughter of peaceful civilizations who had no means or desire to take part in someone else's war. There was absolutely no honor in defeating the weak or feeble races that his people were forced to face in Freeza's name.

In order to restore the freedom the Saiyajin race once had to choose their own battles, King Vegeta found it necessary to create a plan of sabotage against Freeza's intergalactic network as part of the overall coup. With the help of a unique computer virus that he had ordered be designed specifically for this task, the Kold empire's navigational star charts and any data related to long range space travel would be permanently corrupted and unusable. Even if he were to fail in his attempt to kill Freeza himself, everything would still be reset back to square one. That alone would give any unwilling members of Freeza's collective the chance to either escape and start anew or rise up in the midst of the ensuing chaos and take back what was once theirs.

He had already sent out the encoded message to all of his high ranking military officials to begin the silent evacuation of those who would not be participating in the impending confrontation. In other words, all of the children that were too young to be of any help in battle were shipped off under the guise of scouts sent to prep new worlds for Freeza's acquisition. However, their onboard computers weren't going to subconsciously upload instructions for them to purge anything. They would simply be told to stay alive and await contact from their kingdom. Every other adult, young and old, would stay behind to face off against their greatest enemy and hopefully leave with a shred of redemption as well as their lives. His daughter was going to hate him for not letting her participate in this battle, but he hoped she would come to understand that it was for her own good.

The swish of a door sliding open behind him caused the King to glance over his shoulder and acknowledge Nappa with nod. "I take it everything is in order then?"

"Yes, Sir," Nappa replied. "I sent Bardock off already. When he gets the diversion sufficiently underway, I'll sneak onto Freeza's ship and use the computer's master override to upload the virus onto the network."

"You had better not fail. Everything is riding on this," King Vegeta stressed.

"I'll give my life, if I must," Nappa said before bowing respectfully.

"That is exactly why you are my most trusted associate," the King replied. "Rise now, old friend. As of today, our rank and status count for nothing. We are just men who are fighting together for the same freedoms."

Nappa rose to his full height, towering over the King, and gave the shorter man a casual nod of respect which was immediately reciprocated.

"Come. We have work to do," King Vegeta said before levitating off of the balcony and beckoning Nappa.

OOooOOooOO

The four pods being used by Garick's team, and their royal charge, blazed like comets as they passed through the well-known remains of a destroyed planetary system that marked the halfway point to their rendezvous.

Vegeta, now sporting several layers of bandages from her pod's first aid kit, had just started to doze off when a bright flash from distant space nearly blinded her. She hit a button that caused the window of her pod to automatically tint and filter the light before opening a channel to the other pods flying in formation with her. "What the hell was that?" she asked.

A moment passed before Garick's voice spoke through the grainy sounding speakers mounted in the headrest of Vegeta's seat. _"It was an explosion...No, this can't be right..."_

"What? What can't be right?" Vegeta asked.

Boki's voice carried over the connection next. _ "Vegeta-sei...no, the entire system...the sun just went supernova. Choy, are your sensors reading the same thing?"_

_"There's no way this can be right,"_ Choy replied. _"Our sun was still relatively young...it couldn't have been a natural occurrence."_

_"It wasn't a natural occurrence,"_ Garick said. _"The rumor's about Freeza were true. He has a technique to destroy entire planetary systems. That bastard..."_

"No...I refuse to believe it," Vegeta said.

Before any reply could come, the young princess' pod, along with the other three, was swept off course by a massive shockwave. Multiple alarms went off on Vegeta's console, alerting her to every occurring emergency at once. The flood of information that swept across the touch screen appeared and disappeared too fast for her to make any sense of it.

Her body shook as the vibrations of the shockwave were felt through her seat. "Damn it!" Vegeta screamed as she slammed her fists on the dash board.

OOooOOooOO

Blistering cold wind battered Mifune's face as he and a squadron of samurai trainees defended the violation of their border. Today was meant only to be the last training exercise before their graduation. As their leader, Mifune attended this event every year due to formal obligation. His long grey hair whipped furiously with the wind and threatened to loose the bandages he regularly wore atop his crown to cover the old scars inflicted upon him from Hanzo all those years ago.

Mifune growled upon seeing another of his young subordinates injured by the cadre of missing nin. He barked orders over the howling blizzard, for the second time, instructing everyone else to retreat and hoping they heard him over the volume of mother nature's fury. As soon as he noticed the trainees and their instructors begin to beat a hasty retreat, he sighed with relief. Finally, there was no one he cared about blocking the path of one of his most advanced techniques.

The old samurai roared with exertion as the slicing motion of his Kurosawa sent waves of sharp chakra slicing through the snowy soil at his enemies, leaving no avenue for escape and destroying them all instantly. He heaved with the effort of catching his breath and fell to one knee. Perhaps he had been over confident in ignoring his wife's instructions to stay home until he was fully recovered from his pneumonia. After catching his breath, Mifune signalled for one of his instructors to assemble a clean up crew to dispose of the bodies.

He observed the large gouges in the terrain his finishing blow had left and exhaled a disappointed sigh. The ninja world seemed to be ruled by a lust for power and war. Fighting amongst each other is what plagued society and stunted the advancement of the entire world civilization. More and more often, he found himself wondering if the ceasless efforts of the hidden villages would spell the end of the world for everyone.

The contingent he had called for arrived as he was strolling through the battleground, counting how many corpses he had created today. His wrath had blown away all of the immediate snow and ice that covered the earth throughout the Land of Iron almost year round. As his men got to work clearing the area, a shiny glint caught his eye and caused him to focus his attention on the frozen lake that he had inadvertantly uncovered. The red glow he had noticed from beneath the surface seemed to be rapidly increasing in intensity.

Mifune immediately signalled his men to be on their guard as he cautiously approached the source of the light. What he found was a familiar pod frozen solid just beneath the surface. His thoughts briefly shifted to his adopted son and the identical pod he had been found in roughly a decade earlier. He quickly knelt down and scrubbed his hands across the ice to try and get a clear view to see if it was occupied. He squinted hard and was just able to make out something through the porthole on the front of the pod.

Wasting not a another second, he called for assistance before channeling chakra into his blade and cutting into the ice.

OOooOOooOO

The princess awoke with a start and gasped audibly as the light flooding the room burned her eyes. She immediately wrenched them shut and struggled to weakly lift an arm to shield her face. As if in response to her actions, the lights dimmed and the frown marring her features relaxed. She tentatively reopened her eyes and saw the dimly illuminated face of a kind looking older woman hovering over where she lay.

"Rest child," the woman said to her as she gently placed a hand across her forehead. "Your fever has yet to break. The answers will come once you've recovered."

Vegeta, being a member of the royal family, had a reputation of stubborn pride that demanded to be upheld. As such, she lightly slapped away the older woman's hand and forced herself to sit up. "I'm not quite as weak as you seem to think I am," she said with more than a hint of contempt. "Tell me...what is this place?" she asked in a demanding tone.

"This is my home. We're in the Land of Iron," the woman replied, exhibiting a level of patience and tolerance that ruffled the young Saiyajin's feathers. "My husband found you buried in the ice. He rescued you and brought you here to personally oversee your recovery."

"I don't need anyone's help. Especially not that of some weak aliens inhabiting a backwater planet," the princess replied with acid in her tone. After a beat, she continued. "I assume you have my pod in your possession, then. I will have it returned to me and be on my way."

The kindly older lady's eyes seemed to twinkle with humor as if she were hiding something. "If you insist on being so adamant about it, then I suppose I'll have to oblige you. However, I'm not as ignorant as you seem to think I am, young lady. You see, we've encountered your kind before."

Vegeta's eyes immediately narrowed. She was about to speak when the woman cut her off.

"My son is of your species. We found him in the ice when he was just an infant and adopted him," she said with a far away look in her eyes. "Judging by your appearance, I'd say you two are around the same age. He's quite the unique boy, actually. We know a little bit about his heritage due to a device we salvaged from his destroyed pod. Would you like to meet him?"

The young Saiyajin girl turned her head away from the woman, allowing her bangs to hide her face as she contemplated her decision. "Summon him," she growled after a moment.

The woman smiled at her young charge before turning her head slightly toward the sliding doors behind her. "You can come in now, Goku," she said with a nod of her head.

Shoji parted to reveal the silhouette of a spikey haired adolescent with a tail that seemed to have a mind of it's own waving around behind him. From her peripherals, Vegeta watched him approach and noted the shape of his clothing, as well as the way he carried himself, seemed to closely emulate the natives. She felt the bile rising in her throat in response to the disgusting thought that one of her own would be so weak as to seek protection by joining the ranks of a lesser race. If this was the kind of trash she had to work with, then her mission to avenge the destruction of her planet was going to be exceedingly difficult.

The dim light made it difficult to distinguish colors as the boy approached, but Vegeta was able to distinguish his features with little trouble. His carefree expression grew oddly hopeful as he made his own evaluations of her.

"Goku, this is the young lady I told you about," the older woman said while gesturing. "She is...I'm sorry, we haven't properly exchanged introductions yet," she said while looking between her adopted son and the foreign princess. "My name is Kaede and this is my son, Goku. May we ask your name?"

Vegeta grunted with effort as she rolled off of the futon and climbed to her feet with dignity. Her charred and ripped armor added to the imposing visage she was taught to always display. "I am Vegeta, Princess of all Saiyajins. Kneel before me and show your allegiance to our race."


	3. Chapter 3

The Princess of All Saiyajins

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Dragonball, Z, GT, etcetera, yadda yadda. On with the show, er...story. Yeah.

Chapter Three

"Uh...huh?" Goku asked unintelligently while donning a confused expression.

"I said kneel before your Princess, you fool," Vegeta repeated through her teeth while her left eyebrow began to twitch involuntarily. "It is your duty, along with any other survivors we find, to aid me in exacting vengeance for what has been done to us. I will see that bastard and his entire family fall by Saiyajin hands," she added while making fists so tight that her finger nails began to dig into her palms.

"Dear, why don't you explain the situation to us first?" Kaede asked in as reasonable a tone she could muster.

"I have no obligation to waste words on the likes of you!" Vegeta nearly shouted, her frustration escalating. The fact that this lady was remaining calm while she herself was antagonizing her just set her off even more. "You," she said while stepping forward and grabbing Goku by the scruff of his collar. "We're leaving. You serve me now."

Before Goku could protest, Vegeta ignited her aura and illuminated the entire room. Kaede's flowered kimono and graying hair whipped in the breeze rolling away from where Vegeta stood. Goku's expression instantly became serious as he clamped a hand down on Vegeta's wrist and forced her to let go of his brown tunic collar. His strength wasn't overwhelming in the slightest, but the utter shock of being defied by one of her own was enough to give her pause.

"I think you need to calm down now," Goku suggested in an even voice while his eyes pleaded with her to comply. "If it weren't for my father, you would still be buried in the ice. He didn't have to bring you back here. I'm sure he was just thinking it was the right thing to do and that I'd probably like to meet someone else who was like me. These are good people, Princess. If you really believe that I can help you, then at least show respect to the ones who raised me. I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for them taking care of me."

Vegeta frowned as her subordinate's eyes bored into her own. "Feh, whatever," she said before turning her back on him. "I don't need a weakling like you anyway. You'll just get yourself or someone else killed." The princess raised a hand above her head and summoned an orb of bright white ki. "I'll take mercy on you and end your lives now before Freeza has a chance to make you suffer. Consider it a parting gift," she added before hurling the ki upward, destroying the roof as it shot into the sky and expanded into it's moon emulating stage.

Goku was on the defensive, standing between the girl, who claimed to be his princess, and his mother as small pieces of roof debris fell around them. The alien girl made no other move afterward. She just stood there under the sudden moonlight with her arms folded over her chest and smirked at him as if waiting for something to happen. The tension seemed to break after a few minutes when Vegeta's smirk faded and was replaced by a look of confusion.

"Why isn't it happening?" Vegeta muttered to herself while looking down at her hands and ignoring the other two people in the room with her. She became so lost in her own world that she failed to notice the arrival of several armored men wielding blades. When she finally looked up, Mifune was standing directly in front of her with his arms folded across his chest.

"Your transformation has been sealed," Mifune said unceremoniously. "We learned to take precautions after Goku began to transform."

"You what!?" Vegeta shouted, coming out of her trance-like state. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" she asked as she made wild gestures with both hands. "You've doomed us all, you fool! A Saiyajin without it's strongest weapon has no chance against Freeza and his empire!"

"If you were to cooperate and inform us of this perceived threat, I might be willing to have the seal removed," Mifune replied with his stone faced gaze betraying nothing.

"How about I kill everyone else before beating the information I need out of you?" Vegeta suggested with a feral grin.

"That will do you no good, seeing as I wasn't the one who designed the seal or branded you with it," Mifune replied as he confidently approached the young girl. "I was, however, the one who hired the man responsible for it. I also know how to get in contact with him," he added as he leaned his comparably towering form forward and gazed down at her imposingly. "Even if you somehow found this man without my help, you would still have to convince him to remove the seal. Make your decision."

Even one as stubborn as she knew there were times when you just had no choice but to accept that you have been had. If they had managed to block her transformation, there was no telling what else they might be capable of. It suddenly became in her best interest to learn more about the people holding her hostage. Vegeta reluctantly dropped her hands to her sides as she let her aura dissipate. "What do you wish to know?" she growled out.

"Seeing as the roof over our heads no longer remains, I suggest you follow me to an area more secure and start at the beginning," Mifune said before signalling his men to disperse with a nod of his head.

OOooOOooOO

It hadn't taken Goku long to escort his mother to another room and return to clean up the mess left behind by the so-called princess. He had worked at top speed taking care of that, as well as his other chores, in hopes of being able to join his father in the discussion he was currently having with the girl in his private scroll library. However, his father had refused his company and informed him to stay out of it until they were done.

This had left the spikey haired youth to resort to eavesdropping through the shoji. Unfortunately, they kept their volume low enough that he was only able to pick up bits and pieces that mostly failed to make sense without knowing the context. Based on what he had already gathered from the girl earlier, he was able to piece a few things together, though. The most important fact seemed to be that his race had been subjugated by this Freeza person the princess wished to kill and that he posed a relevant threat to more than just one group of people. She had also mentioned survivors of their race, the Saiyajins, more than once. The clear implication that some major catastrophy had befallen them as a result of Freeza's actions was not lost on him.

Still, despite not understanding the entire situation and the fact that this girl was kind of bitchy, he was excited to meet another person like him. If she decided to stick around, which he hoped she did, he would be able to learn a lot more about himself. He hated to admit it, but he had always felt alone deep down even though his adoptive family was more supportive and caring than most. This Vegeta...in some ways, she probably knew him better than he knew himself. It was a simultaneously scary and thrilling thought.

When he heard the sounds of them vacating their seats from behind the door, he stealthily abandoned his hiding spot and went to his room before they entered the hallway. He listened from behind his own door as two pairs of footsteps approached. It seemed they were ready to include him. He backed away from the door and immediately set himself to look busy with homework at his desk while he awaited the knock.

Sure enough, his father called his name after knocking and Goku replied by inviting him inside. "Come in," he said, trying not to sound anxious.

Mifune slid the door aside and led Vegeta inside. "Vegeta has something she would like to ask you and is going to respect whatever answer you give her, isn't that right?" Mifune said while glancing down at the girl.

The Saiyajin royalty looked almost nauseous as she visibly shook with the effort of containing her ire. "I said I would, didn't I?" she grumbled while rolling her eyes. After taking a moment to exhale some tension, she levelled her gaze onto Goku. "I want you to serve..." she cut herself off when Mifune cleared his throat, "I meant, I would like for you to _assist_ me with a very important mission," she spoke in a practiced tone. "It will be long term and you will be forced to do a lot of travelling. In return, I will teach you how to gain control of your transformation, since it is in everyone's best interest that we have access to our full capabilities. Your father has already agreed to put us in contact with someone who can directly communicate with the seal master and allow us to _negotiate_ our way out of this handicap."

Goku's mouth hung slightly agape as he processed the girl's proposition. Then he blinked and directed a questioning glance at his father.

Mifune nodded to his son before speaking. "Goku, listen...you've become a fine young man and I have no doubt that you are destined for great things," he said with sincerity and a fair amount of pride in his voice. "That is why I have left this decision up to you. I do not want to be responsible for robbing you of an opportunity to embrace your destiny. That is not to say that you aren't welcome here. You will always have a home with this family should you choose to decline Vegeta's offer."

Goku abandoned his desk and walked up to the slightly taller girl, stopping within arm's length. He wore the serious mask expression he had learned from his father as he addressed her. "I'll go with you depending on a few conditions."

Vegeta sighed in exasperation. "Geez, what is it with you people?" she asked with another roll of her eyes before folding her arms across her chest. Her half-lidded glare intensified just a hair. "Well, come on then, spit it out," she urged.

"First of all, you don't own me," Goku said while ticking off an index finger. "If you want me to recognize your authority as a Princess, then you gotta earn my respect first. Second of all, just controlling the transformation isn't enough," he continued while ticking off a middle finger. "I want to learn anything and everything you can teach me about our people. Lastly," he said while replacing the two first fingers of his right hand with a thumbs up, "we can be friends, if you want," he added with a smug smirk that quickly grew into a full blown shit-eating grin.

The princess valiantly suppressed her urge to vomit while sparing a glance back at Mifune who merely shrugged.

OOooOOooOO

In the weeks that followed, the two Saiyajin adolescents became further aquainted while preparing for the first leg of their journey. Mifune had informed them that they were looking for the Toad Sage Jiraiya of the Sannin. Not that it meant much of anything to Vegeta. She was still new to the planet entirely and Goku, having been raised in a nation that preferred to isolate itself from the ninja world, had only a vague inkling of possibly reading about him in a textbook at school and basic knowledge of the shinobi way of life.

Mifune had also allowed Vegeta access to the pod she had been found in. Goku, as curious as a kitten on crack, had made a habit of shadowing her everywhere she went to soak up every scrap of knowledge he could pick up from her. Needless to say, he was entirely fascinated to watch while she salvaged technology from the damaged spacecraft and demonstrated how things worked.

When the princess had finally had enough of his irritatingly bubbly personality, she had taken to casually dropping threats of vaporizing him. She quickly learned that idle threats wouldn't work on someone who wasn't sufficiently afraid of her and soon began making a point of demonstrating her power at every opportunity. Of course, that just made him even more interested. It was really annoying having someone constantly begging her to learn how to fly.

The day of their departure, having finally arrived, had Vegeta managing to show a little bit of an upbeat attitude seeing as she was that much closer to getting rid of what she had taken to calling her cursed seal. Goku must have been equally anticipating it as well because he was already dressed in his thick rust colored traveling clothes with his travel pack slung around one shoulder and waiting by the front door while she was barely finished bathing that morning.

Vegeta, seeing fit to always be prepared, wore a new set of Saiyajin armor she had salvaged from the pod under the heavy brown cloak Kaede had given her as a gift. She had eventually reconsidered her original judgment of Goku's decision to dress and act in a manner fitting in with the natives as beneficial to avoiding delays that would otherwise be caused by attention garnered from openly operating as foreign aliens. As such, she had beaten into Goku the need to train his tail and wear it as a belt not only to avoid the stares but also as a means of eliminating a weakness he had been previously ignorant of.

Her royal higness watched from the sidelines while Goku exchanged farewells with his adopted parents, which included him sharing a hug with Kaede. She nearly gagged at the open displays of affection these people carelessly tossed around. She was immensely relieved when things got back to business and Mifune handed his son a hand written letter to deliver to the leader of Konohagakure. He informed them not to lose that letter as it was the only thing that would grant them an audience with the Hokage and ensure their safety in his village.

Truth be told, after learning that what most of these samurai could do with ki was nothing compared to a lot of the ninja they were likely to encounter, she was kind of looking forward to it. A true Saiyajin was always up for a potentially interesting challenge and if this Jiraiya person had the capacity to block a major source of her power, with little more than ki infused calligraphy, she wondered if he was capable of doing the opposite by perhaps enhancing her ablities. One way or another, she was going to get what she wanted.

"Hey, you awake?" Goku asked as he waved a hand in front of Vegeta's face. "Now's not the time to be zoning out. We gotta hit the road," he added with an enthusiastic fist pump.

"Idiot, I know that," Vegeta replied with an annoyed scowl as she pushed passed him. "Let's go," she barked before sliding the front door open and descending the wooden steps that led to the snow covered ground.

"Hey, wait for me!" Goku called after her as he hastily leaped the steps and caught up with her. He looked over his shoulder and waved once to his parents as they stood in the genkan with the door still open.

OOooOOooOO

Vegeta did her best to ignore him as they trekked the icy path that led away from the village's southern exit. Despite that, she couldn't help but notice his shit-eating grin through her peripherals as he walked beside her with his arms folded behind his head in an overly relaxed way. He seemed to be way too happy for no apparent reason and it really rankled her. He eventually started whistling and that's when she finally cracked.

"Ugh! What is your deal?" Vegeta asked, irritation oozing into her tone, as she glanced over at him.

"Huh?" Goku responded as if he had barely registered her addressing him. "Whoa, that vein in your forehead is huge!" he said while pointing an index finger at her face.

Vegeta promptly slapped his hand away as they continued to walk. "Don't point at me!" she spat at him. After a moment, she shook her head and sighed in an effort to calm down. "What happened to the serious attitude you had when I first met you? Are you really a total imbecile or are you just doing this to punish me?" she finally asked while looking at him askance.

"Ah, so that's what's been eating you," Goku said while bumping one fist into an open palm as if a light bulb suddenly went on above his head. "Relax, Princess. We're friends now so there's no need to be so guarded around each other."

"Friends?" Vegeta barked with an incredulous half laugh. "Since when did you get confused about the status of our relationship? I have no need of friends, nor would I bestow such a title upon you. You're an ally; a loony one for getting the wrong idea too, and nothing more. Understand?"

"You know, you're really skilled with denial," Goku commented casually. "Maybe you should sign up to be a kunoichi when we get to Konoha. Denial goes great with lies and subversion. You'd probably pick things up pretty quick."

"I knew it," Vegeta snapped as she intensified her glare. "You _are_ doing this on purpose, you...you asshole! I swear, if I didn't need you to lead us to the Land of Fire, I'd blast you off of the side of this mountain right now!" she threatened while growling through her teeth. Her reply was not what she was expecting.

Goku threw a snowball which promptly splattered against her face before it melted from the heat that immediately flushed her cheeks. She got so angry that even her ears began to turn red and, for the first time, Goku became slightly worried. "Hey...c-calm down there," he said raising his hands in a placating gesture. "I was just joking..."

Vegeta didn't register what he said as she hunched over while kneeling slightly, causing her face to become obscured by her bangs. The very next moment, both of her arms became a whirlwind of blurred motion as her hands dug into the snowy soil and furiously launched hundreds of snowballs at Goku in a dense salvo.

"Holy crap!" Goku yelped as he struggled to block and dodge as many of the cold, wet, bombs targeting him before finally being overwhelmed by sheer volume. The force sent him tumbling down the slope that ran beneath the trail they had been hiking. Luckily, the tree trunk he slammed into about half way down broke his fall.

"Hey!" Vegeta called down from the trail after a minute of silence. "You still alive, idiot?" she asked, with the barest trace of humor evident in her voice.

Goku's gloved hand broke the surface of the pile of snow that had fallen from the tree branches and buried him. He gave her a thumbs up before uncovering himself and climbing to his feet. He coiled up and launched himself into a leap high enough to carry him back to the trail in a single bound. He shook the last bits of snow and dead leaves off of his coat before facing Vegeta. "Felt good, didn't it?" he asked with a broad grin on his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Vegeta replied, attempting to recollect herself while adjusting the cloak back over her armor's shoulder pads.

"Oh, come on, admit it. You enjoyed cutting loose for a bit. Even you can't stand to have a stick up your but all of the time," Goku said in an accusingly humorous tone. "Guess I was right about you," he added with a light-hearted laugh.

"You don't know a damn thing about me!" Vegeta snapped suddenly.

Goku flinched involuntarily at her sudden outburst before his expression became somber. "So, maybe the Princess missed out on the finer points of childhood. At least she grew up knowing her real parents and the purpose of her existence."

His eyes were fixed on hers, but Vegeta knew Goku was doing more than just looking at her. She averted her gaze and shook off the sudden chill that had managed to creep up on her. "Feh. I wouldn't wish my childhood on my worst enemies. You had it way easier being coddled by these primitive aliens, so don't even try to insinuate that I'm not entitled to act in a manner I deem appropriate."

"Suit yourself," Goku said with a shrug, as he regained a good measure of his carefree attitude. "Let's hurry up and leave this mountain range, yeah? There's an inn at the entrance to the valley and I'm dying for a hot meal. My dad gave me enough ryou to feed a family of four for a month, so with our kind of appetites we need to make this trip as short as possible if we don't wanna run out of funds," he added with a wide grin.

"Hn," Vegeta replied while maintaining her lack of eye contact.

OOooOOooOO

Once they were clear of the snowy terrain, they were able to travel much faster. The tall vegetaion of Fire Country provided a speedy avenue of travel via tree branches in the thickly forested areas. After witnessing a team of ninja they had met at the inn depart, Vegeta had wisely suggested they make use of the "ninja highways" to expedite their progress. Afterward, it took less than a week for them to find a road that eventually led them straight to Konoha's doorstep.

When they made contact with the sentries guarding the entrance, Goku pulled out the official letter addressed to the Hokage and allowed one of the ninja to deliver it while they waited. Soon enough, a small contingent of masked ninja they overheard being referred to as ANBU arrived to escort them to the Hokage's tower.

For being the leader of a supposedly renowned organization of powerful ninja, Vegeta balked at how cramped his office felt as she and Goku sat beside each other on folding chairs facing the Hokage's desk. She studied the old man's wrinkled face as he re-read the letter in front of them. He looked way too ancient to be the strongest in the entire village.

"Well?" Goku questioned, seeming to grow antsy as he fidgeted in his chair.

Vegeta rolled her eyes as she sighed. The boy really had no discipline what-so-ever.

Sarutobi lifted a hand and signalled the gathered ANBU to leave the room. When the door finally shut, he addressed them. "We're alone now. This letter from Mifune says that you two are orphans not of this world and that my old student branded you with some sort of seal? I've had several dealings with Mifune since he became the leader of the Land of Iron and never once has he mentioned this. When he specifically asked me for Jiraiya's assistance again less than two months ago, I obliged him without question. He made Jiraiya promise not to divulge the finer details of his mission, for the second time. Would one of you like to tell me what's going on?"

Vegeta stood up from her seat and shed her cloak before glancing at Goku and giving him the go-ahead. At once, the both of them unfurled their tails and left them free to whip about under their own control once again. "I am Princess Vegeta, of Vegeta-sei," the flame haired pre-teen said while folding her arms across her chest. "This boy is a subject of the third class tier of my homeworld society. His name is irrelevant," she added with smug glare at Goku.

"Hey, you can't just ignore me like that!" Goku shouted indignantly. "My name is Goku and I was raised on this planet by my father, Mifune, and my mother, Kaede! Don't take everything this bitchy wannabe Princess says seriously either."

"Bitchy!?" Vegeta shrieked incredulously. "I dare you to say that again! I probably know more about being a proper Saiyajin man than you'll ever know, you weak sauce sissy!"

"It's about time you admitted how much of a tomboy you are," Goku replied as he was overcome with laughter. Vegeta's mouth hung open, speechless, as Goku wiped a stray tear from one of his eyes and caught his breath. "You're way too easy to get a rise out of, you know that? I thought royalty was supposed to be in better control of themselves."

"Why you-"

"I think I've seen enough," Sarutobi said while gesturing for them to stop with one hand raised and the other holding his pipe. Days like this made him really feel his age. "I'll speak to Jiraiya about this when he arrives tomorrow. In the mean time, I'll allow you to stay in a hotel under the supervision of ANBU. Please enjoy your stay in Konoha."


	4. Chapter 4

The Princess of All Saiyajins

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Dragonball, Z, GT, etcetera, yadda yadda. On with the show, er...story. Yeah.

Chapter Four

Sunlight filtered through the windows of the Hokage's office as the two Saiyajins stood at attention in the center while allowing the white haired Sage to inspect them closely. Sarutobi remained calmly seated behind his desk with his pipe in his mouth as he observed. After minutes of silence, Jiraiya stepped back to address his audience.

"You, girl, what was your name again?" Jiraiya asked as he pulled out a notepad and a pen.

"Must you make me repeat myself again?" Vegeta asked in frustration.

"Hm...it's like I thought," Jiraiya said absently. "Stuck up bitch," he muttered as he jotted down a note.

"What did you call me?" Vegeta demanded as she seethed. "Are you writing things about me?"

"And you, boy, your name?" Jiraiya asked, indicating Goku with his pen as he completey ignored Vegeta.

"Goku, Sir!" he energetically replied. "Um...is it gonna take long to undo the seals?" he added as an afterthought.

Jiraiya jotted another note on the pad before folding it up and slipping it into a pocket inside his robes. He took on a serious expression as he scrutinized them yet again. "The seal will remain in place," he said in a stern voice after a moment.

"WHAT?" Vegeta snapped, unable to contain herself.

The Toad Sage raised a hand to forestall their protestations before he elaborated. "Mifune may have helped you get here, but I have the final say in regards to my sealing. And, I say that it's too dangerous to allow foreigners from another planet to inhabit this world without some sort of leash. I've seen what your little boyfriend turns into when he gets a good dose of moonlight. The last thing we need is two of those things rampaging across the elemental nations. I'm sure Sarutobi Sensei trusts my judgement," he added while glancing over his shoulder at the old man.

Sarutobi nodded in affirmation before clearing his throat and speaking up. "My student has made a wise decision," he said while giving Jiraiya a supportive glance. "You must remember, we are acting in the best interests of our society as a whole. Risks of this magnitude, we just cannot afford. Although Mifune's perspective may differ slightly, we would prefer to approach this interstellar threat you have mentioned, if it even still exists, in a manner that does not leave us at the mercy of a pair of alien children who have no loyalties to our village, or our planet, for that matter. Did you have something you wished to say?" he asked with a bit of amusment in his voice when Goku raised his hand.

"Yes," Goku said with a nod as his expression suddenly became more serious. "I've lived here for as long as I can remember. How can you say that I don't have loyalties to this world? I would fight to protect it with everything I have. My family is here, after all. And, Vegeta...well, she's coming around. She may be easily provoked on occasion, but I believe deep down she's a good person. If you would just give us a chance to prove ourselves, I'm sure you would come to reconsider your decision," he said with an incredibly humble tone and eyes that reflected utmost sincerity.

Hokage and Sage took a moment to have a silent conversation through exchanged glances. Goku flashed a confident grin and thumbs up at a speechless Vegeta while they waited. After what seemed like an uncomfortably long pause, the two older men finally acknowledged them.

"How old are you two?" Sarutobi asked while lacing his hands together and resting his elbows atop his desk.

"I'm eleven!" Goku chirped energetically while grinning proudly.

Vegeta rolled her eyes with a sigh before replying. "Same," she said while folding her arms across her chest. "What do our ages have to do with anything, anyway?"

"You said you wanted to prove yourselves," Sarutobi replied while tapping his pipe above the ashtray on his desk. "Therefore, I extend to you an invitation to Konohagakure's ninja academy. Considering your situations, you'd have a lot of catching up to do but, if you work hard, you'll have an opportunity to graduate with the next group of children your age. Become a loyal shinobi that serves our village and earn our trust."

"Hah, don't make me laugh. A Saiyajin Princess serving-" Vegeta cut herself off when Goku forcefully nudged her shoulder and actually glared at her. Her silence was pause enough for Goku to get his point across to her. She glared daggers back at him before snubbing him entirely, but said nothing else to protest.

"Well, then, if that's settled, we'll have you escorted out while we finalize the details and handle the paperwork," the Hokage said with a wrinkly smile.

OOooOOooOO

"Hey, seriously, come on. Are you still on this?" Goku pleaded with Vegeta as she continued to give him the silent treatment while sitting on the stool furthest away from him at Ichiraku's ramen bar which, coincidentally, he had found thanks to an attempt at seeing if he could make the ANBU reveal themselves during a chase. Aside from finding the food, that plan hadn't been as successful as he had hoped.

He sighed in frustration for the hundredth time since waking up before slurping down the rest of his fifth bowl. It was their third day inside the walls of Konoha and their last day of freedom before starting school the next day. He had expected her to already be bossing him around with instructions for whatever plan of action she was inclined to cook up but, instead, she hadn't said a word to him in nearly twenty-four hours.

Vegeta silently finished her last bowl before excusing herself without giving any hint as to where she was headed.

Goku watched her disappear down the street before glancing back to the steaming sixth bowl that Ayame had just placed in front of him. "Oh well," he muttered to himself, with a shrug, before breaking into a wide open grin of appreciation and digging in again.

OOooOOooOO

The princess grumbled to herself as she dug around inside her travel pack that lay open at the foot of her bed. The room of her new studio apartment was very austere with it's dark stained wooden surfaces and the single light fixture hanging from the ceiling.

"About time," she muttered as her hand finally found what it was looking for. She pulled a scouter out of the dark canvas bag before attaching it to her head and activating it.

Numbers and text scrolled across the miniature holoscreen projection in front of her left eye as it booted up. As soon as the power level application was open, she ran a search for the largest local power source; the Hokage. A few beeps and chimes preceeded the digits rapidly adding up in front of her while the compass in the corner of the screen homed in on it's location.

Her eyes widened in surprise as the number count finally slowed down and stopped at around thirty-five thousand. At a little less than ten thousand, herself, she was clearly outclassed by the old man. With a resigned sigh, she walked over to the only window that had a view of the tower and admitted to herself that it was in her best interest to play by the rules until she was strong enough to get her way. However, as she stared at the tower, she noticed that the compass wasn't pointing anywhere near it. In fact, it was pointing in the opposite direction.

Either the Hokage was out of his office and playing hooky during business hours, or someone else in the village had a higher power level. Her interest piqued, Vegeta donned her hooded cloak and left through the window which she had been using.

Leaping across the rooftops, she knew the ANBU were surely trailing her but her scouter couldn't pick up anyone following her which led her to wonder how Goku had detected them in the first place. Those thoughts were abandoned as she zoned in on the source of the power her scouter had found. Her booted feet landed softly on the roof of the inn connected to a divided hot spring. She treaded as lightly as she could as the scouter readings led her to the roof edge overlooking the women's half of the onsen. Across the small pond, she spotted the top half of the Sage's head peering out from behind a large rock. She double checked the scouter twice, just to be sure he was the source of the strong power, before she realized what he was doing.

For some strange reason, catching the legendary Sage in the act of peeping ignited a particularly foreign spark of righteous fury she had never before felt. Just as she was about to ignore the logical part of her brain that said attempting to smite the pervy bastard wouldn't end well for her, said perv abruptly disappeared in a swirl of leaves. As she struggled to make sense of his sudden absence, she felt someone tap the back of her right shoulder.

What she found when she twisted around was the smiling face of the man who she was beginning to develop a strong hatred for.

"Are you stalking me?" Jiraiya asked with a mischeivous grin. "Can't say I blame you, if you are. I'm pretty much used to the antics of my many groupies by now. Youngest I've ever met, though."

It took every iota of self control Vegeta possessed to restrain herself from initiating an offensive she knew would be entirely futile. "Don't mock me," she replied through gritted teeth.

"Whoa there, kid," Jiraiya said with his hands up in a mocked gesture of placation. "You're starting to scare me. Not enough to reconsider the seal so soon, though," he added with a grin and wink while noticing the headgear she was sporting.

"That's not why I'm here," Vegeta said, narrowing her eyes and taking on a serious expression as she regained her cool. "You're the strongest in the village...why aren't you Hokage instead of the old man?"

"What makes you say that?" Jiraiya asked, instantly replacing his flippant demeanor with a more business like one.

"Your power level," Vegeta replied before suddenly being overcome with consternation as she realized that, even while staring at him face to face, the scouter wasn't registering him like it was before. "How can you...you're fooling my scouter somehow, aren't you?"

"What? That little toy on your face?" the pervy Sannin asked as he leaned forward slightly and scrutinized the alien technology while pointing a finger at it. "Now there's an idea," he said as a light bulb went on above his head. "A gadget that measures your opponent's power so you don't have to... well, I gotta say, the people from your culture have got to be some kind of lazy to come up with that. Guess that means you haven't developed your sixth sense at all."

"Sixth sense?" Vegeta asked, clearly at a loss.

"Yep," Jiraiya replied while resting his hands on his hips. "Don't worry too much about it. There's a class on that in the academy. In the meantime, I'll just confiscate that so you don't get tempted to use it again," he added while snatching it right off of her face faster than she could react and leveling a playful smirk at her.

"Give it back, you theif," she growled as she clenched her fists and felt the prominent vein in her forhead begin to throb.

"Make me," the adult taunted in a very unadultlike manner as he juggled the item in one hand.

Vegeta furrowed her brow and tensed her legs before lunging at the Legendary Sage. Said Sage merely evaded her advance by doing the disappearing leaf thing again, leaving her path clear to sail off the edge of the roof. She reacted by righting herself mid-air before hovering in place slightly above the roof line.

"That's a neat trick," Jiraiya said as he stood atop a lamp post a few meters off to the side. He pulled out his pen and pad to jot down a few notes. "A flying nymph would be a great addition to the next volume in the series..." he muttered to himself before being forced to dodge again. "Catch me if you can," he yelled before bounding into the trees.

OOooOOooOO

After having left Ichiraku's, Goku got a fair amount of exploring done around Konohagakure's busy shopping district before using up the rest of the afternoon light giving his ANBU escorts an exercise in keeping up. His trek took him from nearly one end of the village to the other as he familiarized himself with most of the landmarks. He climbed the Hokage monument, went for a dip in the local onsen, found an open plain that seemed good for training near an isolated forest surrounded by a giant fence, and even managed to meet one of his sneaky escorts face to mask when they warned him to stay away from a certain compound in a residential area.

Despite learning that there really weren't a lot of places he was allowed to get into yet, he felt he had made significant progress on the mental map of his temporary new home.

Eventually, dusk rolled around and the main streets again became crowded with those people that favored dining out. The wafting aroma of cooked meats and stir-fried vegetables led Goku to a packed Yakiniku establishment in the heart of Konoha. His body moved on autopilot as he walked through the restaurant while his eyes darted from table to table to see what everyone else was ordering. He paused briefly to pull out his stash of ryou and count how much he had left. His jaw dropped when he realized how little there was. Dining out was going to have to be put on hold until he was able to replenish his funds.

With his head hung low and a defeated expression on his face, he performed an about face and took one step before bumping into an adult. "Oh, excuse me, I didn't see-"

"Yo!" Jiraiya greeted the young Saiyajin with a pat on the shoulder, causing him to look up. "What's with the long face?"

"Ah! Hi Jiraiya-san!" Goku replied with a smile. "I was on my way out. I just realized I need to save the last of my money until I can find a way to earn some more."

"Well, if that's what has you worried, then you can relax. The Hokage is going to front you and your companion a monthly allowance until you make genin," he said. "You'll be able to pay him back once you start taking on missions."

"Really?" Goku asked with an excited grin and big eyes.

Jiraiya replied with a nod and smile before removing his hand from the boy's shoulder. "You bet. Come sit with me and I'll tell you more about what to expect. It's my treat tonight."

"Awesome!" Goku cheered before following the Toad Sage to a booth. "I'm liking this place more and more," he said, causing the older man to chuckle a little.

OOooOOooOO

"I hate this place..." Vegeta groaned as she regained consciousness and extricated herself from the shrubbery the pervy Sage had left her in. Noticing how brightly the moonlight illuminated the flora, she looked upward and saw the full moon. The seal on her abdomen began to glow with ethereal light and crept out of the bottom of her chest armor. "Damn that man..."

The chase and ensuing conflict had gone about the way she had expected. The scouter was lost and he had rendered her previous estimate of his power level unreliable by revealing the fact that he could raise or suppress it to any point within his range. The inference he had made that it was common and basic knowledge among shinobi suggested that everyone else, including the Hokage, employed the same technique. That alone was enough to dash any hopes of half-assing her way through what she thought to be a ridiculous idea for an educational institution. She resignedly accepted that there were useful things she could only learn by taking their ninja school seriously.

With that thought in mind, she dragged herself back to her new place of residence to get some sleep in before starting the first day of her school life.


	5. Chapter 5

The Princess of All Saiyajins

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Naruto, Dragonball, Z, GT, etcetera, yadda yadda. On with the show, er...story. Yeah.

Chapter Five

Goku was roused from sleep by the familiar popping sound of a jutsu being dispelled in the next room. With a big yawn, he tossed his covers onto the floor and stretched his limbs before rolling onto his feet. He padded over to his door and entered the living room just as Vegeta cast a bunshin-henge combo that created three differently dressed copies of herself.

He let out a low whistle of appreciation before commenting. "Nice," he said as he continued on his path to the bathroom.

"Hn," Vegeta said before dispelling again. Today was the day, she thought. In a few short hours, they would undergo the exams that would determine whether or not they were good enough to leave the academy behind and become genin. Of course, Vegeta had no doubt what the outcome would be. In the less than two year span they had spent within the walls of Konohagakure, Vegeta had demonstrated to her peers what a hard working genuis could accomplish.

Goku wasn't so bad either, she mused. They hadn't really trained together much since she preferred solitude and he tended to gravitate toward his group of friends. However, they did spar on a regular basis, so she knew he had come a long way. Grudgingly, she had developed a bit of respect for the guy and, without realizing it, even grown accustomed to his presence. Having another Saiyajin around, especially one who depended on her when it came to matters concerning their race, served as a constant reminder to never lose sight of her responsibility to avenge their people. It helped her to stay focused and not get too absorbed into the village lifestyle as well.

Her lack of fraternization surely painted her as a loner in the eyes of her classmates but, in her opinion, that was the best way to be. Take the Uchiha, for example. He kept everyone at a distance and never got distracted despite constantly being hounded by fangirls. As far as the humans in her class went, he was the most disciplined and probably would have been rookie of the year if not for her and Goku.

Speaking of the loud mouth, he was taking his sweet time in the shower. If he didn't hurry up, she wouldn't have time to bathe and still make it to school on time. The concept of punctuality had been beaten into her very early under the watchful eyes of Freeza. She shuddered at the memory and shook it off before proceeding to the bathroom door so she could pound on it to put the pressure on her roommate.

OOooOOooOO

"...and now the bunshin no jutsu, please," Iruka said after marking a check on the sheet of paper held inside the folder on his desk.

Uchiha Sasuke wordlessly acknowledged his Sensei before forming the necessary hand seals and executing the technique flawlessly, resulting in four exact copies of himself to poof into existence around him. He held them long enough for the two chuunin in charge to scrutinize and make their decision.

"Well done," Iruka said as he made his last mark on the boy's sheet. "You may return to your seat. Mizuki-san, who's next on the list?"

"Uzumaki, Naruto," Mizuki replied with a smirk before handing Iruka another folder. "This outta be good," he added under his breath.

Iruka nodded to his partner and crossed his fingers under the desk before calling one of his favorite students up. He watched with trepidation as the blonde boy with whisker marks on his face put on a confident grin and marched down the steps. He gave the jinchuuriki a reassuring smile which was replied with a thumbs up. "Go ahead, Naruto," Iruka said.

The orange clad son of the fourth Hokage glanced over his shoulder at his orange clad buddy seated right next to his empty chair in the middle of the classroom. Goku flashed his pearly whites and gave him a thumbs up as well. Taking on a slightly more serious expression, Naruto returned his attention forward before furrowing his brow in concentration as he began to form seals. A short moment later, three distinctly henged, and well done, clones puffed into existence around him.

Goku suppressed his laughter to the best of his ability as the copies of Ino, Sakura, and Sasuke began to act out the scene according to Naruto's plan.

"Oh, Sasuke!" the two fangirl clones swooned before rushing him, trying to push each other away as they latched onto either side of the Uchiha copy.

"Get off of him, forehead girl!" the blonde shouted as she yanked him toward her.

"You first, Ino pig!" the pinkette yelled as she used one of her legs to kick at the other girl.

"Ladies, ladies, ladies," the Uchiha clone said in a pompous and completely unrealistic tone of voice. "I'm not intersted in either of you. Haven't you figured it out yet? I only like boys."

Nearly everyone present to witness the impromptu show was left to pick their jaws up from the floor before secondary reactions like outrage spread like wildfire across the room. As a small mob of angry classmates descended upon the prankster, Naruto took a bow before using kawarimi to evade certain death.

Mizuki and Iruka acted quickly in breaking up the crowd before bringing the class back to order. When everyone had settled down, Naruto re-entered the room through an open window to recieve his score.

Everyone glared daggers at the boy as Iruka went down the list and checked off the justu he had demonstrated. "Unorthodox...unnecessary...flashy...very risky...very creative..." Iruka said as he scribbled notes down. "You pass, well done. Now please apologize to your classmates," he added.

Naruto cracked a huge smile and bowed to his Sensei before turning around to face his audience. "Gomen," he said with a sheepish grin as he bowed slightly.

"Very good," Iruka said with a huge smile of his own. "Please retake your seat," he added before turning to his partner once again. "Mizuki?"

"Vegeta is up next," Mizuki replied with a muted expression.

"Alright then," Iruka said. "Vegeta, would you please take the floor?" he asked, increasing his volume.

The Saiyajin in question removed herself from her seat near the back of the room before descending the aisle on her way to the front of the classroom. Her finely tunes senses allowed her to overhear the whispers of her classmates as they made comments about her being a stuck up show-off. When she reached the head of class, she stood at attention and awaited further instruction from her two Sensei.

"You may proceed," Iruka said with a nod.

Wearing a smug expression, the alien Princess went through a series of handseals before creating three copies of herself which then immediately proceeded to hover off of the floor while performing handseals of their own. Each clone then tranformed into a different weapon which Vegeta plucked out of the air one at a time for brief demonstration of their functionality. Afterwards, she and all three of her henged clones used empty folding chairs from the back of the classroom in a kawarimi.

"Excellent, as usual," Iruka said, crossing justu off the list in Vegeta's folder after she reappeared back in her own seat. After a few moments of stacking folders, Iruka vacated the chair behind his desk and stood before the class. "You all pass!" he said cheerfully, illiciting several cheers and sighs of relief from the students. "You are all now free to leave for lunch, but please remember to return to class in two hours for team assignments. Dismissed!"

OOooOOooOO

"So...I take it things went well?" Ayame asked as she handed out two more steaming bowls of ramen to the similarly dressed friends seated before her.

"It was great," Goku said in between slurps. "Everyone passed!"

"Yeah," Naruto said after downing the last of his broth from his first bowl. "And the look on Sasuke-teme's face was priceless!"

The reminder caused Goku to laugh and spit out some of the broth he had in his mouth. "Aw...man..." he said looking down the front of his orange and black jacket. "I spilled..." he added before unzipping it and shrugging it off.

"I swear I even caught Iruka Sensei trying not to laugh," Naruto boasted.

"Well, I guess that means the next time we see you two will be with hitae-ate around your heads," Ichiraku said with a beaming grin. "I just hope my two favorite customers' don't let becoming big time ninja get to their heads. I might have to move into a smaller house if you two stopped eating here," he added with a chuckle.

"No way! That'll never happen!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'll even create an official ramen holiday when I become Hokage if it helps."

"Hey, that'd be great!" Goku agreed.

"Well, then, you can count on my vote," Ichiraku said before everyone started laughing out loud.

Vegeta walked in just as the laughter was dying down and claimed one of the empty stools. "Two miso and one pork bowl," she said casually.

"Hey, V-chan, what did you think of the show I put on?" Naruto asked.

"It was stupid," Vegeta replied without pause, her voice flat and uncaring. "And don't call me that."

"Hmph..." Naruto said before grumbling something about buzz kills.

OOooOOooOO

"That concludes team assignments," Iruka said officially. "Good luck to you all."

"Damn...why did _he_ have to be grouped with me and Sakura-chan?" Naruto said, still moping over his luck.

"Cheer up, buddy," Goku replied. "At least you have one other person on your team with a lively personality. I got Sai _and _Vegeta. They both have about as much personality as wooden board. I'm gonna have my work cut out for me with them."

"Well, at least neither of them openly hate you," the blonde said with a sigh.

"Hey, that's their problem, not yours," Goku said. "Besides, you have plenty of other friends like me, Hinata-chan, Hokage-ojisan, Iruka Sensei, Jiraiya-san, Chouji, and Shikamaru."

"Yeah...you're right," Naruto said, brightening up a little bit.

About fifteen minutes later, when nearly everyone else had been taken away by their new team leaders, a man with a unique hitae-ate framing his face entered the room and identified himself as the leader of team eleven. Goku, Vegeta, and Sai stood up to follow the man out of the building and into the soccer field out back. He instructed them to be seated on the bleachers before silently evaluating each of them.

"I am Mokuton no Tenzo," the man with the dark brown hair and deep black eyes said. "We will be working together from now on. You may refer to me as Tenzo Sensei. Standard procedure requires introductions, so please proceed to share a little bit about yourselves such as likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, etcetera."

"Hey..." Goku said, raising his hand. "Um...have I met you somewhere before?" he asked.

"I am a former member of ANBU," Tenzo replied. "I was assigned to watch you when you first arrived in our village."

"Ah!" Goku exclaimed. "I thought you seemed familiar."

"Your senses are very astute, Goku," The older man said, acknowledging him with a nod.

"Wait, since you know about us already, why do we need introductions?" Goku asked.

"It's for the benefit of your teammates," Tenzo replied, with a glance toward Sai.

"Oh, ok," Goku said, shrugging it off before proceeding. "My name is Goku and I come from the Land of Iron, where I was raised by my adoptive parents. I like good food and overcoming difficult challenges. I dislike heartburn and indigestion. My dream for the future is to defeat Vegeta in a fair fight and take her down a few pegs."

"Vegeta, you go next," Tenzo said, folding his arms across his chest.

"My name is Vegeta and where I come from is none of your business," she began. "I like training to increase my strength and stamina. I dislike loud mouthed idiots and tyrants. My dream for the future is to kill the being that made me an orphan."

"Sai, it's your turn now," Tenzo said, stifling a yawn.

"Hello, everyone, my name is Sai," the pale skinned boy greeted with an obviously fake smile. "I like serving Konoha to the best of my ability and making my superiors proud. I dislike it when I fail to acheive my goals. My dream for the future is to get to know a lot of people and make as many friends as possible."

"Very well," Tenzo said. "Now that formalities have been taken care of, you will follow me to the Hokage's tower and have pictures taken to be added to your official personnel file."

OOooOOooOO

Vegeta frowned as she and her teammates stood agaisnt the wall outside of the Hokage's office while waiting to be seen in order to receive their next mission. If the entirety of the last month had been any indication, they were in for another round of cat chasing, yard work, grocery carrying, or any other manner of simple manual labor. There was no real challenge in anything they did and it was really starting to rankle. These pointless mission were getting her no closer to earning her way out of the seal.

As she stood there brooding, she began to notice the increased volume coming from within the Hokage's office. The loud annoying voice was unmistakably that of Naruto complaining. Immediately following the prankster's outburst, the Hokage called for the old man that reeked of sake, who had been waiting in the hall with them, to go inside. A few more minutes passed before Team Kakashi exited the office with the old drunk in tow.

Naruto shared a grin and thumbs up with Goku on their way out.

Upon being called in, Vegeta spoke up before Iruka or the Hokage could address them only to be interrupted by her own loud-mouthed teammate.

"Hey, does that mean we can get a C-ranked mission too?" Goku asked energetically as he began bouncing on his toes.

Iruka sighed as he palmed his face and shook his head. "You guys heard that?"

"Hn," Vegeta replied. "I don't know about the rest of my team, but I'm not leaving this room with another D-rank."

A few moments of silence passed between the two groups before Tenzo added his opinion to the mix. "I'm not against letting them take on a bit more responsibility," the man said with a shrug, before adding, "They've earned it."

"Well, then, I suppose it will be okay," Sarutobi said before nodding to Iruka, who was already flipping through a stack of mission cards.

"In that case, you should be satisfied with this one," the young academy teacher said as he pulled a card and held it out for Tenzo to grab.

"Hm, an escort mission," Tenzo mused as he scrutinized the fine print on the small piece of paper.

"Indeed," Sarutobi said as he rested his elbows atop his desk. "There is an archaeological expedition, set to leave the village today, that will need security once they arrive at their dig site. You will be travelling to the Land of Wind."

"Awesome! I've never been to the Wind country!" Goku said with a fist pump. "I bet there's all sorts of cool stuff to see there!"

"Wonderful," Sai said with a creepy smile. "I hope everyone gets along great."

Vegeta rolled her eyes at that. "Are we free to go?" she asked as she folded her arms across her chest.

The Hokage cleared his throat before speaking again. "You will meet the caravan at the eastern gate in one hour. I suggest you all get packed. Dismissed."


	6. Chapter 6

The Princess of All Saiyajins

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Naruto, Dragonball, Z, GT, etcetera, yadda yadda. On with the show, er...story. Yeah.

Chapter Six

The journey to the Land of Wind had started off very mundane...and gone downhill from there, in Vegeta's opinion. Not a single bandit, nor enemy nin, had crossed their path. Having little else to do, she had decided early on that, if she wanted to maintain her sanity enough to not blow something up on purpose, it would take some major distraction to keep her mind from wandering. So, she had resigned herself to actually participating in training with her teammates every time they stopped to rest along the way. That had then, somehow, led to her giving flying lessons to Goku and anyone else brave enough to endure being repeatedly picked up, by Vegeta, and dropped from very high up while being lectured on the finer points of ki control.

With the loaded down carriages slowing them considerably, it had taken them a whopping three weeks to cross into the desert and reach the dig site. By the time they had arrived, the orange clad genin was so beaten and bruised that Tenzo had ordered the two Saiyajins to give it a rest for the sake of Goku's own well being, despite the spiky haired boy swearing up and down that he almost had it.

The large rock formation, under which the archaeological dig site had been established, was the only visible landmark for several kilometers in any direction. It's high reaching rock spires also aided the team of ninja in keeping an eye on everything going on around them.

Another week passed, with no groundbreaking discoveries being made by the team of diggers, and the two Saiyajin teammates were beginning to go stir crazy.

"Imbecile," Vegeta spat as she hovered a few feet away from Goku's spot atop one of the rock spires. "At this rate, we'll have already begun to head back to the village before you get it. I don't know why I even bothered trying to teach you," she added with an exaspirated huff.

"Just relax," Goku replied, without breaking his perfectly balanced meditative stance. "You don't have to keep hanging around me if it frustrates you that much. I'm pretty sure I can figure out the rest of it myself anyway," he said calmly.

"Hmph, I'd like to see you-" Vegeta's rebuttal was cut off by the sound of crumbling rocks accompanied by several cries for help. "Shit," she muttered after finding the source with her eyes. Without another word, she quickly descended to the ground with Goku hot on her heels.

"Is everyone alright? What happened?" Goku asked, after landing between Sai and Tenzo.

"There's been a cave in," Sai supplied in a business like tone. "Several people are unaccounted for."

Goku looked to their leader for instruction. "Sensei?" he asked.

Tenzo wasted no time handing out orders. "Goku, you and Sai start moving the injured away from the dig site. We don't want to risk anything else coming down on them. Vegeta and I will work on unearthing those who may have been trapped. Go, now," he said.

All four Konoha nin immediately went to work with their assigned tasks. In less than ten minutes, Goku and Sai had secured the safety of every other member of the expedition near the edge of the rock formation before returning to help their teamates. When they arrived, Vegeta was already using a very small, and tightly controlled, beam of ki to vaporize a lot of the rubble while Tenzo used wood release to reinforce the structure around the cave entrance.

Goku and Sai shared a quick glance with each other before moving in to help carry pieces away by hand.

"Damn it, this is taking too long," Vegeta growled before cutting off the small beam. "Everybody clear out of the way," she said loudly. "I'm gonna do this in one shot."

"That's too dangerous," Tenzo replied quickly. "You might cause the whole thing to collapse on the people still trapped inside."

"I know what I'm doing. Just trust me," Vegeta insisted before summoning a much larger orb of ki in front of her outstretched palm. Giving them no time for further objection, she shot the ki off and forced it to flatten and stretch until it became like a thin glass wall. She cracked a satisfied smirk when the entire pile of rubble turned to dust just as she had intended.

Tenzo released the breath he had been holding as the dust settled and everything looked to be fine. That didn't stop him from glaring at the girl, though. "You and I are going to have a talk about this later," he said before addressing his team as a whole. "Alright, let's get in there and check for any survivors," he added before taking point and leading them into the dark. "Flares," he said, pulling one from his utility pouch and igniting it.

The rest of the team quickly followed suit and soon their immediate area was dimly illuminated. Tenzo made sure to reinforce the path behind them with wood release as they carefully trekked further down the cavernous corridor.

"Is it just me, or has it gotten a lot colder all of a sudden?" Goku asked as he noticed his visible breath leaving his mouth.

"We _are_ underground," Sai commented.

"No, he's right," Tenzo said, raising a fist to signal their halt. "The temperature drop shouldn't be this drastic."

"If you're afraid, feel free to stay behind and wait for me to return with the survivors," Vegeta said casually as she created an illuminating ball of ki and continued passed them.

Tenzo frowned and made a move to grab her by the shoulder but found it unnecessary as she stopped herself short when the echo of a woman's scream reached their part of the corridor. The four of them remained silently still for a moment before launching into a full sprint toward the direction of the cry.

Vegeta, now in front, was the first to reach what appeared to be an open hatch that led into a metal structure. "Hold up," she said, stopping just outside the hatch. She raised a hand to her mouth and made the hushing gesture so everyone would be quiet. A few beats of silence passed before an inhuman guttural hiss was heard from deep within the structure.

Everyone withdrew kunai as a reflex before proceeding beyond the threshold. The pungent odor and humid atmosphere, inside, grew noticably stronger the further they traversed. Faint sounds of dripping water and creaking metal echoed throughout the labyrinth as they each took carefully placed steps forward. Along the way, they encountered a large partial husk of scaly skin that looked like it had been shed recently. As they rounded a corner and came upon a set of heavy blast doors, Vegeta's suspiscions were confirmed.

She dropped the kunai back into her pouch before rushing toward the door and wiping the dust off of a keypad mounted on the wall next to it. Her teammates stayed close and kept their eyes open for any movement in the intersecting corridors while she started fiddling with the controls.

"V-chan, what is this place?" Goku whispered over his shoulder as he continued to keep an eye out for hostiles.

"It's a ship," she replied absently as she popped open the casing on the keypad and exposed the wiring.

"What's a boat doing buried all the way in the desert?" he asked.

"This is a spacecraft, you dolt," Vegeta replied before successfully hot-wiring the door open.

Tenzo and Sai looked at her with the same shocked expression on their faces after she had spoken.

"Follow me," Vegeta said with a nod toward the open doors. "This is the bridge," she added as they all stepped inside.

The lost Saiyajin boy and his two human teammates watched in awe as Vegeta approached a console in the center of the circular room. The whole place became illuminated a few seconds after she pressed a button. Goku, Sai, and Tenzo absorbed the sight of several holographic displays, showing various menus and data, appearing out of thin air all around the room.

Before they could get too wrapped up in what they were seeing, another blood curdling scream was cutoff and followed by a sickeningly wet crunching sound. Whatever seemed to be stalking the ship's corridors was getting closer. Goku made a move for the door but it was quickly shut before he got anywhere near it. He spun around to glare at Vegeta, who he suspected was responsible.

"Save it, idiot," Vegeta said, already guessing what he wanted to say. "Whoever that was is already dead. There's no point in you blindy running off to rescue a corpse. This ship has a security system. I'm going to use the cameras and see what it is we're dealing with."

As she finished explaining herself, a large holoscreen appeared in front of the huge cracked window that had been giving them a view of dirt and rocks. Vegeta hit another button that caused the projection to display four smaller images in grainy color. Each was of a different section of the ship. They saw into many different rooms and corridors as she scrolled through the list of cameras. When she came upon an image that showed the mangled remains of two of the expedition crew, she stopped and blew the image up to full screen.

Goku was the only one who almost lost his lunch at the sight before them. Immediately after regaining composure, he clenched his fists before speaking as calmly as possible. "Vegeta," he started, "We need to make sure we get anyone else still alive down here out before whatever that thing is gets to them."

"No shit, captain obvious," Vegeta replied as she brushed him off in annoyance with a wave of her hand before using the controls to turn the camera and zoom in.

"You're not listening," Goku said, raising his voice as he stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder from behind. "This is taking too long! We can't just stand here and do nothing while people are dying out there!"

Vegeta growled threateningly before raising her left arm and striking Goku across his face with the back of her hand. It was just enough to turn his head and cause him to take a step back. Her deep scowl marred the soft features of her face as she addressed the rest of her team as a whole. "Listen up, all of you! We are dealing with something the likes of which you would find difficult to comprehend. If that creature has been living down here the entire time, then it must have come down with the ship. If it really is from outer space, then you had best let me handle this."

"Then it's true what the Hokage said about you," the former ANBU said, his voice unwaveringly calm and collected as he mentally processed the revelation.

Vegeta merely grunted acknowledgement to her team leader before turning back to the console so she could finish what she started. The three other people stood in a resigned silence until she had fixed the image on the big display. What they all saw next rendered even the Saiyajin Princess herself speechless.

Above the two mangled bodies lying on the floor were three semi-humanoid reptiles feasting on the flesh of their kill. Vegeta's eyes were like saucers as she examined them. The pinkish-purple skin and the white growths on their bodies that resembled armor...it was all too familiar. How it was even possible, she couldn't begin to guess. She forced herself to extract her attention away from the horrific sight and back down to the controls of the console below her.

After a few more minutes of silence, Tenzo stepped up to the console along side the Saiyajin girl. "Do you recognize those creatures?" he asked.

Her fingers flew like lightning across the controls as she replied. "Yes and no," she said before making the image on screen change to that of a menu. "The ship's log will answer our questions, though," she added before pressing a final button that caused a video recording to begin playing back on the holo projection.

To everyone's surprise, the image of an older man who, aside from having scars marking his face, looked a lot like Goku, appeared on screen and began to talk. He could only be seen from the waist up and was bleeding from several wounds across his upper body.

_"...is Bardock of planet Vegeta. This transmission is for any and all Saiyajin's who escaped the destruction of our world. Our plan to destroy Freeza may have been a failure, but we did manage to temporarily cripple his information network. So, for the time being, we will all be able to disappear without worry of being tracked. Attached to this message is a set of encrypted coordinates. They will take you to a planet where we will rendezvous and establish a base of operations._

_"I...I only made it out alive because of what the King did for me at the last minute. I guess...since I used to be considered somewhat of a celebrity and was a third class, he thought the irony of me rallying the next revolution was too good to pass up. All of us, every survivor, owe it to him to carry this out. The sacrifice of him and our bretheren signals the end of a dark era in our history. No longer will the word Saiyajin be associated with servant of a tyrant or mass murderer._

_"From here on out, we make our footprint in history as the ultimate race of underdogs."_

"What in the hell..." Vegeta whispered under her breath as the recording wrapped up.

After the recording ended, everyone's eyes gravitated over to Goku, who appeared to be lost in thought. Sai opened his mouth, as if to comment, but Tenzo gave him a look while shaking his head that said 'no'. Vegeta sighed heavily before turning back to the menu screen. She decided to skip ahead much further on the timeline of messages. When she got about two thirds of the way through, she hit enter.

Bardock appeared on screen once again. This time, he looked even more beat up. However, what stood out the most was his blonde hair and the corpse lying on a table behind him.

_"...I repeat; the previous coordinates are no good. I don't know how, but King Kold and his other son Cooler were waiting for me on the planet when I arrived. I was overwhelmed and...I somehow managed to transform myself into what I believe to be the legend of the Super Saiyajin. _

_"After I transformed, they double teamed me, but I was still able to kill King Kold. Cooler, though...he was too much. I think he may even be stronger than Freeza. I guess my luck hasn't run out yet, though. I managed to distract him and escape with his father's body after crippling his ship. King Kold's head will make a nice trophy to hang on a wall somewhere when this is all over._

_"For now, I suggest everyone stay where they are and wait for my next communique. As for Freeza and his brother; if either of you intercept this, be afraid. The Super Saiyaijin has returned and I'm out for blood,"_ he said before lifting the severed head of King Kold and holding it up for all to see. _"See you in hell,"_ he concluded before the screen went black.

"I don't believe it..." Vegeta trailed off, her head spinning.

"Hey...V-chan?" Goku asked, finally coming out of his thoughts. "Is that man...is he..." he continued, finding it difficult to form the words, "...you know?"

The Princess shook off the stupor that had temporarily claimed her before looking at Goku with the barest hint of sympathy in her eyes. "All I know of Bardock is that he was considered somewhat of a genius when it came to inventing new techniques while in the midst of battle. He wasn't very strong, thus he was forced to be creative to survive a lot of the more difficult missions. He was given an official commendation when he perfected the false moon. I don't know if he had any offspring or not..."

"This is off topic," Tenzo interrupted. "We all saw the head and the alien corpse in the background. Those creatures...what are they?"

"Yes, shouldn't we worry about the immediate threat?" Sai asked. "We are still on a mission, after all."

Vegeta slammed her fists down on the console in a fit of frustration. "I know, damn it! Those things obviously have a connection!"

"What is it then?" Goku asked, growing worried.

"Those creatures are too feral to be of the same race as Freeza and his father, despite how they look," Vegeta replied with a ragged sigh before pressing a few more buttons on the console and making the image change to that of a star chart. "I told you before that there were things going on here that you would find hard to comprehend, so listen closely. You see this star map? In order for a spacecraft to correctly reach any destination, it needs a computer to make calculations that account for changes in variables like gravitational fields and expansion of the universe. The rate at which the universe expands is also used to measure the passage of time while in space."

"What are you getting at?" Tenzo asked, with an undertone of growing suspiscion.

"Of course it wouldn't be obvious to people as clueless as you," she said resignedly as she prepared to deliver the bad news. "This ship has been here a very long time. Five thousand years, if the stars are to be trusted," she added. "Biology really isn't my subject but, if I were to guess, I'd say that some native lizards made a nest in this wreckage sometime in the past and fed off of King Kold's corpse. Given enough time, they could have mutated into those things that are out there right now."

"F-five thousand years?" Goku stuttered in disbelief.

"Round about," Vegeta confirmed with a nod and heavy sigh. "That would make both of us much older than I originally thought. It would also explain why only some of the ninja population seem to have power levels rivalling that of us Saiyajins while others are pitifully outclassed. Bardock must have made a home here and intermingled with the humans after abandoning this ship."

"Does that mean Tenzo Sensei or Sai could grow tails like ours?" Goku asked, unravelling his furry appendage from around his waist.

Tenzo and Sai both stared wide-eyed at the previously incognito belt the spiky haired boy never left home without.

"It all makes sense now..." Sai muttered under his breath before pulling out his small sketch pad.

"Everytime I think you're catching on, you open your mouth and stupid comes out," Vegeta said, rolling her eyes at Goku. "Why did you have to be the only other surviving Saiyajin?" she added with an annoyed grumble before remotely opening the blast doors that had sealed off the bridge. "I've seen enough," she continued before abandoning the controls. "It's hunting time."


End file.
